Right now, February, 2008, Ridgid is phasing out its line of NiCad batery tools and phasing in their new Lithium Ion line. So they are making their tools capable of accepting either style batterys! But that will not make a big difference because they offer a lifetime service for the tool and the batterys that power them! After replacing my Craftsman batterys just last year and having them going south now, I decided top grab a Ridgid tool set while Home Depot has them on clearance sale. I ...

I’ve been using the 12V Rigid cordless you can see in the photo for quite some time. I figured a cordless drill is a cordless drill, but once I held this Makita in my hand, I was forever changed.
Pros:
Power: This little guy is loaded with torque.
Trigger speed control: The range from just barely turning to fully wound up is all accessible. The trigger has good resistance and feedback. Once you’ve found the sweet spot for the task at hand, it’s easy to repeat....

This drill is great. It has plenty of power. The best part is it only wieghs about 3 lbs. I bought this drill about one month ago. It seems like I haven’t put is down since. I looked over several drills before I bought this one. Most woodworkers can do fine with a 14.4v drill. I looked at several of them. I figured I could get one that wieghs less than a 14.4v, but was stronger at the same time. That is why I chose this. Another cool feature is the LED light right above the trigger. I ...

For years I have used Makita cordless tools. I was using my 9.6 volt drill about two years ago when a friend came by and began to brag on his 18 volt Dewalt drill/driver. This prompted me to start looking around for an 18 volt set to replace my rather gutless 25 year old unit.We were in Home Depot and they were having a sale on combo kits and if you bought the kit, they would throw in an extra battery free. There was the Makita combo kit with the charger and two batteries for $279.00. We che...

Don’t let its dinminuitive size fool you, this driver is packed to work! It has become my go-to driver for most of my screw driving needs! It comes with a compact charger, but you won’t need this too often. This really holds its charge! Its lithium ion technology keeps it fully charged in my drawer until I need it, although you can leave it in its compact charging crale without harm. It comes with about 30 bits with an extension bar, all in rubber holders.
The direction sw...

Hello, Lumber JocksNot real sure how to format a tool review, but here I go.RYOBI 18v Impact DriverI needed a tool to screw in a lot of 1 5/8 dry wall screws. The job was the inside of my shop, putting up chipboard (OSB). I started off with a Bosch drill drive and it was working alright but I could see it taking a long time, besides it was starting to work my wrist and arms when pushing up tight on the screw to get it in place or to keep it from stripping. That’s not Bosch’s fault, that’s...

I own two of these (one for each hand; OK, that is a joke), and you can see both in the photo. I obtained one a few years back and picked up the other a few months ago when I was feeling flush. I do not feel so bad about buying two of the things, since together they cost about the same as one such unit from any number of more upscale manufacturers.
These are 18-volt jobs and they are part of the Ryobi One + battery-powered tool catalog collection. This means you can buy the driver without ...

I bought this impact to replace an old DeWalt driver. I got the driver, a compact drill, 2 compact lithium batteries, and a charger for only $179 instead of a new DeWalt impact with no battery for $279. Sounded like a good deal so I jumped on it even though the Ryobi’s torque didn’t come close to the DeWalt(880 in/lbs for the Ryobi and 1,330 in/lbs for the DeWalt). The Ryobi struggled to drive lags into the old petrified wood of the house I was adding the deck on. It also bogg...

I purchased the model DS202 14 volt Senco dura spin fastening system from Home Depot. The kit comes with a hard case, two bateries and a charger. Designed to shoot strips of screws into drywall and other materials. In two large jobs I have had several misfeeds from the gun and it gets jammed up easily. Have gone back through the instructions and fine tuned it but the results were the same. When it is working at peak performance it is a beast, but when it jams it is something else.

I bought this drill/driver for a deck for my daughter, my Ridged batteries were dying a fast death.
A side note on the construction. I bought a Hitachi 18 volt drill and ratched drill at Lowes for $229.00 before I went. Model WH 18DSAL
Hitachi site
I charged up both batteries. Everything worked great. All joyce hangers, screws up to 3 1/2”, decking boards, facia boards stairs were attached with the two screw guns. It required an additional charge on each battry and a second charge on...